An investor, a retired industrialist, a progressive public policy advocate and a philanthropist

Chairman and CEO of BLS Investments, LLC, a private investment firm, Mr. Schwartz also manages the investments of the Bernard and Irene Schwartz Foundation. The foundation invests in think tanks, universities and advocacy organizations, specifically targeting programs that develop policies focusing on U.S. economic growth and job creation initiatives. It also supports institutes of higher education, medical research and New York City-based cultural organizations. Mr. Schwartz is a life-long Democrat and an active supporter of the Democratic Party.

Prior to establishing BLS Investments in March 2006, Mr. Schwartz served for 34 years as chairman of the board and CEO of Loral Corporation and its successor company Loral Space & Communications, formed in 1996. Loral Corp, a Fortune 200 defense electronics firm, employed as many as 38,000 employees at its 25 locations. At its height Loral attained annual revenues of nearly $7.5 billion and had a market value of $13 billion.

Mr. Schwartz is often called upon to express his views or provide counsel on matters ranging from U.S. economic growth and competitiveness to investment in infrastructure, innovation, technology, and research and development. At a number of institutions, he has initiated programs that rigorously examine current U.S. economic policy and competitiveness, and that consistently challenge current orthodoxy to arrive at policy proposals that will further U.S. economic and technological preeminence. The programs employ lectures, position papers, op-ed pieces, conferences and debates, and tap the expertise of leading economists, business people, and policy makers. The policy proposals that emerge from these programs are broadly distributed to members of the administration and Congress, educators, researchers, the media and the general public. Read More >>>

October 3, 2014:

Bernard and Irene Schwartz Lecture at The New School's SCEPA hosts "An Evening with Thomas Picketty." Mr. Picketty is the author of the best-selling Capital in the Twenty-first Century.

NYU School of Medicine conferred the Valentine Mott Founders Award to Bernard Schwartz in recognition of his family's exceptional support for the clinical, research and ediucation missions of the Medical Center.

Council on Foreign Relations Schwartz Fellow Ted Alden and co-author Rebecca Strauss release "Curtailing the Subsidy War Within the United States," offering a policy solution to end this wasteful competition.